Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Aman Tuleev, Governor of the Kemerovo Oblast signed an Agreement of Cooperation.

The document, among other things, sets forth the following top priority directions for the joint activity: development of the coalbed methane (CBM) resource base in Kuzbass, implementation of a project for commercial CBM production, development of the gas supply system in the Kemerovo Oblast, wider use of gas as a motor fuel, introduction of gas and energy saving technologies.

Under the Agreement, the parties will promote elaboration of the investment mechanism ensuring an optimal balance of the finance sources for the projects on the regional gas supply system development.

Background

The previous Agreement of Cooperation between Gazprom and the Kemerovo Oblast Administration was signed in June 1998. The Accord on Gasification was signed in July 2000.

According to the Russian President assignments, Gazprom implements an innovative CBM production project in Kuzbass. In February 2010 Gazprom launched Russia's first CBM production project in the Taldinskoye field.

In 2010 Gazprom produced 4.9 million cubic meters of CBM from this field in a pilot operation mode. The produced gas is used for power generation and as a motor fuel.

During the plateau period, the annual CBM production in Kuzbass is planned to reach some 4 billion cubic meters, with a subsequent increase to 18–21 billion cubic meters in the long term so as to meet gas demand in other Western Siberia's southern regions.

The gas penetration level in the Kemerovo Oblast is 1.8 per cent while the identical figure throughout Russia averages 63.1 per cent. The regional industry and the power generation sector are mainly coal fed at the moment. Between 2006 and 2011 Gazprom invested some RUB 306 million in the Kemerovo Oblast gasification constructing four inter-settlement gas pipelines with the overall length of some 71 kilometers.